Never Will I Knit... Until Now

I told myself for years that never will I ever knit a fingering weight sweater. Especially not one in adult sizes. Yet here we are... And I have two of them on my needles. One of them I started recently, and the other I started a year and a half ago. My near future knitting goal is to knock both of these off the needles!

I'll start with the recent addition to my WIP's pile. This is the Blue Hour Sweater, designed by Suvi Simola. It was honestly a tough choice picking out which of her sweater patterns to use, and I originally had my heart set on a different pattern that had cables going down the arms. But I was ultimately looking for a simple, easy, and (relatively) quick sweater, and the Blue Hour Sweater pattern was a better fit. I'm using Knit Picks Hawthorne Kettle Dyed in the Delphinium colorway for the primary color, and the brown accent stripes are Good for Ewe Sultry Steps yarn in Chocoholic.  Here is my Ravelry Project Page for it, if you want more details or pictures.

Picked up collar is shown here.

I've been making awesome progress on it. It's a fingering weight sweater and I'm surprised how quickly it has been going. I started it in late November, but mostly put it on hold for the Christmas season, so it's only been the last few weeks that it has gotten steady attention.

Trying on sweaters that are still in progress is always fun. I love seeing how it grows as time goes on.

All that is left now is the sleeves. Which is the part of sweaters that I dislike knitting the most... So I might have to bribe myself with candy to make sure they get done in a timely manner. I'm so excited to have this sweater in my wardrobe though, so I'm not too worried about it languishing unknitted.

Sweater sleeve is on some needles! Until the sleeve decreases start, it fits on a 16" circular for easy knitting. I'll be switching to DPN's or magic loop circular soon.

My other sweater has been a work in progress for ages. I bought the materials and started knitting it when we were living in St. Paul, MN... We have since moved three times and are now living in Texas. It is a far traveling cardigan! I'm using the Mama Vertebrae pattern designed by Kelly van Niekerk. I'm using some Cascade Yarns Heritage Sock, which is super soft and comes in every color imaginable. I had started the collar/buttonband ages ago, and then promptly forgot that it existed and it fell to the bottom of my WIP's pile. I had a surge of motivation yesterday and powered through the rest of it, and also picked up the sleeve stitches, which can sometimes be a tedious task. It's still a bit bunched up from being stuffed in a bag, but once it is blocked it will look much better. I just need to get through the sleeves.

Bunched up, but I am loving these colors and stripes! It looks funky flat, but I tried it on and really like how it looks.

Sleeve one is on the needles. I did the first few rows, which can be a bit tricky with the underarm stitches being picked up.

One other thing I'm excited about is new project bags! I had mentioned to my mom ages ago that I would like some new bags to store my knitting, and right around New Years she delivered on that wish. We have troublemaker cats that like to play with, chew on, and steal yarn related things, so my projects MUST be in a closed bag when not in use. These cute zippered bags keep my projects safe. One is a roomy sock project bag, which is currently holding one ball of yarn but could easily fit a second. The other is my sweater project bag, and can hold four balls of yarn plus a sweater in progress. I might need to browse fabrics soon and request a couple more of the big bags!

Knitting bags are better when they are crafted with love.

That's it for now! I have lots more projects to talk about, but I'll save those for a new post. Here's the crafty kitties that always keep me company while knitting.

Linus the drowsy cat and Apollo, the king of the castle.

So Many Socks

I'll admit it. I have a sock addiction. Socks are one of my favorite things to knit. They're portable and fairly easy. There's a huge variety of patterns, designs, and styles to make. They only use one or two balls of yarn, so they are quite economical. I can use bright and obnoxious yarns that I wouldn't otherwise use, because socks are often a hidden garment. And always useful, because just about everyone needs socks. I'm even sharing my sock craze with the Husband, either through crazy patterned bought socks, or through several pairs of his own knitted socks.

Immediately after finishing the Husband's most recent pair of Zigzagular Socks, I started another, more simple patterned pair for him. Since three of his last four pairs were in shades of blues and greens, this bright red Regia Pairfect yarn is a fun change to the Dude Sock Knitting. The Pairfect yarn is great for pattern perfectionists. It has a bright yellow starter line to help make sure that each sock starts in the exact same part of the color repeat, then a narrow coordinating color stripe signifies where to start the heel. I've gotten through most of the gusset stitch decreases now, so it is time to power through the long size 11 foot part of the sock.

The Matt-Zagular guy socks. These are so far his favorites.

I love self-striping yarn, and I really like that this yarn is striped in such a way to signal the starts of each section. Matching each sock is so easy with this yarn!

The rest of the socks I'm working on are for me. Did I mention I really like fun socks? I really like the Zigzagular Socks pattern. So far I have three completed pairs, and I'm also working on a fourth set. I got a ball of Berroco Sox self-patterning yarn in Colorado Springs when I was out visiting my brother a couple months ago. I accidentally found the Ewe and Me Yarn Shop on open knit night while I was killing a couple hours during my brother's evening class. What was going to just be a coffee shop run turned into coffee, shopping, and chatting. I've been working on these on and off for a couple months, and so far have one sock done and the second partway down the leg.

Crazy stripes and patterns. And the Berroco Sox wears quite well. I have two pairs made from it that are holding up to frequent wear with no holes or weak spots so far.

I just started yet another a new pair tonight, despite the fact that I have eleven other projects on the needles. I saw the Patons Kroy Purple Haze yarn at Michaels and couldn't resist. Considering half the stuff in my wardrobe is purple, these will coordinate perfectly. I'm using the basic Yarn Harlot Sock Recipe, but adding in a basic cable that I've added to a bunch of socks now. So far, so good! And it also gives me a chance to use the little cable needle ring that I made a while ago. It leaves the cable needle tucked away but easily accessible.

Sock problem Exhibit A: Despite having multiple pairs of socks in progress, I'm starting another pair. 

My favorite socks right now though are the Slippery Slope Socks. I saw the pattern in the Spring 2016 Interweave Knits magazine and instantly knew they needed to be on my feet. The pattern has one row stripes alternating in two different colors, and then slipped stitch cables in each color that weave their way down and around the socks. The longest part of the process was deciding on yarns, and I finally settled on Knit Picks Hawthorne in the Happy Valley color, and Sweetgeorgia Yarns Tough Love Sock in Slate. The yarns are a tad bit splitty, but I'm making it work and love how the colors are turning out. These socks have also been great practice for cabling without a cable needle, at which I am now a pro. With one sock done and the second one nearing the heel, I'm surprised at just how quickly these complicated socks are coming along, especially considering the many other projects that are also on my needles.

The way these colors are coming out reminds me of stained glass. These socks are too cool!

Of course I love making socks, but I have lots of other projects in the works right now, too. Check back soon to see some great progress on my Take It All Shawl and see the awesome kiddo Coyote Cardigan that are on my needles. Here's a couple of sneak peeks.

What a fun way to use up some mini skeins. I might run out of yarn towards the end. Luckily my LYS is just a mile walk away...

A kid's sweater so complicated, it will get its very own post. Merging the fox cardigan on top with the great written pattern of the bottom one, and using coyote colors, to make possibly the best kid sweater ever for my niece.

And somehow I've been making progress on projects despite a surprise kitty crisis. Linus ate something he shouldn't have. I suspect it was a small scrap of yarn, but really who knows because this cat eats anything he can find on the floor... Usually his non-food eating issues clear up on their own, but this time he was barfing for a full day straight, so he got an all day trip to the vet, x-rays, anti-nausea medicine, and blood work to verify nothing he ate was toxic. The vets said he was very cute but very pitiful all day. The little troublemaker is back to normal now and picking battles with Apollo. His incident meant two days full of high maintenance kitty issues.

The problem cat Linus feels much better after his vet adventure.

This is Apollo's new spot. He's here every night.

Having a Ball With Some Shawls

Before I started knitting, I never wore shawls or cowls, and rarely wore scarves. Now, I always have at least one on the needles at all times. I love the wide variety of patterns, shapes, designs, and yarn possibilities that shawls offer. Plus, I'm always cold, so it is so nice to have lots of bundling options.

Proper bundling technique.

The two shawls I am working on now are also a way for me to use up some stash yarn.  The first is one that I started quite a while back and have been working on intermittently. It is the Hitchhiker Shawl by Martina Behm. I was gifted some bright self striping sock yarn a while back, and while I loved the colors I wasn't quite sure what to make with it. The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn, but I'm holding two strands of fingering yarn held double, so mine will be a bit thicker and squishier. Since we're moving to the toasty state of Texas, I might be gifting this item once it is completed! My Flower Power Hitchhiker is making steady progress, and the simple pattern is turning out to be a great project for driving (as a passenger, I swear I don't knit and drive!), mindless TV knitting, or when I'm too tired to concentrate on my more complicated projects.

Simple scarf/shawl, with an easy to memorize pattern repeat. I love seeing these colors blend together!

My second shawl is something I'm very excited about. I had acquired a set of sport weight mini skeins from Mountain Colors Yarns as a souvenir in Muskegon, Michigan last September on an epic road trip with my brother. I've been trying to think of the perfect item to make with them, and I think I found it in the Take it All Shawl. I picked up a few more coordinating colors of sport weight Quince and Co. Chickadee yarn, and I just started the first segment of the many colorful shawl sections. I cast on with US5 needles, but I think on the next section I'll bump up to 6's. Other than that I am happy with the pattern, and very excited to see how it works up! My only minor complaint about my Colorful Shawl is that the yarns are proving a bit tricky to accurately photograph. I can't take pictures of it at night, and during the day I have to get just the right light from the windows to capture the colors correctly.

The early starts of a shawl. My favorite part is seeing how the strategically placed increases are creating the curved edges.

A close to real colors picture of all the shawl yarns.

An example of the completed shawl, from Ravelry user danekken.

I suppose there's one other minor complaint about those mini skeins... Linus was fascinated by them! He tried to walk off with one of the little hanks, and while I was winding them with the loops draped across my knees he kept marching across my lap and gum rubbing the yarn. He was very insistent that he needed to help. At least Apollo stayed out of the way. His new fave hangout is the back of the couch, and he's nearly always lounging behind me. Although he's also made himself a little cat nest on top of my yarn storage bins that gets a nice draft from the windows.

The beasts, doing what they do best. Being weird.

I'm having a blast working on these shawls, on top of the many other works in progress that I also have on needles in various stages of done-ness. Tune in next time to see more!

Have Yarn, Will Travel

It has been a busy few months! Since my last post, we have done two cross country moves due to my husband's new job bringing us all over the nation for the training period.  We spent 3 months in the Cleveland, Ohio area and are now in gorgeous Salt Lake City, Utah! We also recently learned our new and semi-permanent location. In June, we will be settling in to San Antonio, Texas.

Traveling all over has its benefits! Visited with family, did some touristing, and discovered the cats are great travelers.

With these multiple treks, most of our stuff has been left behind in storage until we have a more permanent place. Thankfully, the new job provides furnished housing for the short term moves.  I had to significantly trim down and prioritize what portion of my stash knitting stuff would make the journeys to new places.  Currently everything I've got in the same state as me fits on or under an end table next to the couch. And I've got more than enough WIP's to keep me busy, since I brought all of those.

Just a few of the works in progress. A Vertebrae Cardigan, a sock yarn scraps blanket, and a Hitchhiker Shawl.

Being in these new towns and places has been quite interesting. We've had family and friends come to visit, and we've done some exploring both in town and in the wide open spaces. My favorite discovery so far is the lovely Local Yarn Store just a mile from our SLC apartment, Blazing Needles.  I go to their regular Thursday evening knitting nights and have met a large crowd of great people to chat with.  It's a bit daunting to be in a new place, especially for an introvert like me. But having something like Knit Night helps me open up and get comfortable around new people.  They also have excellent yarn selection, and I have already fed my yarn habit with yarn for several projects in various stages of completion.

Here's some of the things I've been working on here in the shadows of the Wasatch Mountains!

Lots of finished socks! Some for me, and some for family and friends.

I made the top two toys for my niece, the Kindle case for me, and a Yarny character from the video game Unravel for the Husband.

Hats and shawls all around!

Socks in progress. Currently it's only four sets, but there's more pairs that I am dying to cast on.

First ever time trying to spin! So far I am loving using the drop spindle.

Hopefully in the near future I can update again with some extra details about my works in progress, and go a bit more in depth on everything.

New Knitting Beginnings

I've been MIA on this blog for a while.  My apologies.  It's been a very chaotic couple of months.  Long story short, the husband got a new job out of state, we had endless moving tasks to deal with, and it's taken a while to get fully settled.  We are still in the great Midwest, but now a bit further north in the Twin Cities of Minnesota.  We are now finally completely put together, and I can get back to doing what I love most - knitting, and sharing that with others!

Rather than go totally in-depth and tell you everything I've been working on during my online absence, I'll do a quick glimpse today, and follow up with some shorter posts soon.  If I did it all in one post, you would be reading for hours!  Today I'll give you a quick look at my new crafting area, take a peek at my main works in progress, and show off my current knitting tools construction project.

Today's main events.  Knitting and caffeinating.  And prepping the caffeine.  Cold brew coffee can be a bit time consuming to filter!

My main goal with moving into our new home has been organization.  I've always been a fairly organized person, but we are now on Organization Overdrive.  I stocked up on tons of storage bins and baskets, and have fully utilized all of them.  Especially with this apartment's lack of closet space, other means of stashing things has been an absolute must.  My knitting zone was no exception to this cleaning spree.  I have three small bookshelves dedicated to all things craft related, most of that being yarn related.  Everything has its home.  And I love it.  I've included some pics of the crafting zone, and if you really want to see the rest of the abode, here's the pictures and a video walkthrough.

The whole setup!  I love how neat and tidy it is.  Even the drawers are organized.  And I've got a couple baskets on top for "inspiration sock yarns" and the sock yarn squares blanket I'm working on.

I have many projects in progress, and several I've finished without showing the finished product on here, or that aren't even mentioned.  I'll get to those in the near future.  I have several short blog posts planned.  For now, I'll just show off my main current projects, in various stages of done-ness.  If you absolutely must see every single item, head on over to my Ravelry Project Page.

The works in progress basket is full and bountiful.  With everything in project bags, for minimal cat hair collection.

The first item is the Red Shawl  I'm making for my mom with the Dinner in the Eiffel Tower pattern.  I love that this shawl is easily modified, since I have extra yarn and am adding extra sections and repeats to make it bigger.  I'm making it out of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light, a DK Alpaca/Wool blend in the Garnet Mix color.  My mom loves the color red, and helped choose both the yarn and the pattern.  I need to hurry and finish this shawl!  It was supposed to be a birthday gift... but that was in February.  I'm going to aim to have it done by Mother's Day, and it can be a combo gift along with some tasty chocolates or other treats.  I was slowed down a bit by a newly discovered nickel sensitivity.  The knitting needles I was using were nickel, and making my hands itchy and break out in rashes.  No good.  I've now swapped them out for a set of Knitter's Pride Dreamz wooden needles, and I'm knitting through it quite quickly.  I'm pretty confident I can meet the deadline of May 15th, when she will be coming Northward for a visit.

My wool projects are basically cat magnets.  As soon as it's within reach, they must investigate, and they must sit on it.  

Many of my other projects have been put into hibernation, but I do have three pairs of socks that have been getting rotating attention.  I'm making a pair of Business Casual cabled socks, a pair of Atlantic Current slipped stitch socks, and a super basic but blindingly bright pair of Fluormania Socks.  They're all in progress, but I think the neon ones will be finished first.  I'm going to have such cozy feet!  Just in time for summer... The only other thing I need to mention is that I've heard talk from podcasters that the Regia Fluormania yarn is prone to bleeding and fading.  I'll be trying out the Knitmore Girls' Citric Acid Fix to help set the dye.

Socks, socks, and more socks!  Hopefully I can power through these soon and get to my other WIP's!

The last thing I wanted to mention is my handmade knitting tools improvements.  As many knitters know, the cords on the Boye Interchangeable Needles leave much to be desired.  They are stiff, short, and are simply not pleasant to work with.  But since I am sensitive to nickel, my choices of metal needles have been drastically reduced.  In order to make these needles a joy to work with, I am making my own cords!  I found a couple tutorials that have been extremely helpful.  One is from a Craftster forum, while the other is from the Expattery Blog.  Between these two posts, I've become an expert at using nylon tubing, weed whacker line, small screw studs and super glue to craft lovely flexible cords with a perfect join to the needles, all in custom lengths.  The total cost for materials was about $25 and will provide enough materials to make a lifetime of cords for both myself and knitting friends and family that desire custom cords.

The finished cables, in custom lengths!  I made 24", 32", and 40" cords to roughly match the Knitter's Pride/Knit Picks lengths I have for other needles, but will definitely be making other cords in a variety of sizes as I put more projects back onto the Boye aluminum needles.  I'd like some short ones for hats and cowls, and it will be nice to make custom length ones for sweaters eventually.

That's all I'll cover for now, but stay tuned for upcoming posts about other recent projects and knitting adventures!

Apollo and Linus have made themselves right at home!  The IKEA doll/cat bed was the best $15 purchase ever for Apollo... meanwhile Linus is perfectly happy commandeering a box.  And I included pics of a couple of the creatures that kept me company while I stayed in the Old Town while the Husband moved to the Twin Cities ahead of me.  Clyde is my parents' charismatic cat, who is perched on the TV begging for treats.  Ava is the little chiweenie that stalked me through my parents-in-law's house every night.

A New Year, with New Knits

Hello again!  It's been a while since I've posted here.  Due to a very busy holiday season and some computer mishaps at home, blog updates were put on the back burner for a couple of weeks.  Now that the visiting family members have gone home and the computer crisis has been resolved, I finally have time to chat about my Christmas gifts that can now be revealed, as well as talk about my new knits for the new year.

Surprises Revealed

I have several handmade gifts that either weren't started at the time of my last post, or that couldn't be shown off in order to maintain gifting secrecy.  One of those was another fleece blanket.  I made my mother-in-law a cozy blanket as one of her gifts.  I love these blankets since they are so simple to make, and so useful.  Living in Illinois, one can never have too many blankets for winter.

Cozy and stylish pattern!

I discovered a new simple craft.  Oil based sharpie paint pens work wonders to decorate ceramic goods!  For Christmas, I made several decorated mugs, and I've got a couple more mugs as well as a blank piggy bank for future decoration projects.  

Scrapbook letter stickers give the borders.  Simply adhere to mug, color in dots all around the stickers, then remove letters when done.  A quick trip through the oven helps set the paint, and makes the mugs dishwasher safe.

I finished two hats, one for a gift and one for me.  The brown hat went to my father-in-law.  Both were made using the ever popular Tin Can Knits Barley pattern.  I slightly modified the pattern for the brown one, since I was holding two strands of worsted yarn doubled, which is actually bulky weight when it comes to pattern/needle selection.  The turquoise hat was for me, using some lovely Spud and Chloe yarn I scored at Goodwill a few months back.

Same hat pattern, but different yarns give it a whole new look

For a couple of my coworkers, I made knitting WIP (work in progress) ornaments.  I found a walkthrough on Ravelry, and adapted it to work with my scraps of yarn and the globe ornaments I picked up at Target.  I'm very happy with the result, and still have a couple of globes left over to make more of them.  Whether you're a knitter or simply know one, they are a cute addition to any ornament collection!

Stuffing the mini project into the globe was a bit tedious, but it certainly looks neat when it's finished.

My cousin was in town visiting for the holidays, and he requested a pair of fingerless mitts.  His previous pair was well loved, but one hand had gone MIA, so I found the Rip Current pattern and set to work on his new pair.  The worsted weight yarn makes the mitts go nice and quick, and the pattern is simple enough that I could work on them while visiting with him, my aunt and uncle, my other cousins, and his little two year old running about.  

A bit big on me, which means they should be a perfect fit for his long fingers.

My favorite holiday knitting endeavor was the Owlet Sweater with matching accessories!  I briefly mentioned this project and posted a pic of the pink bulky yarn in my last post.  Now that the kiddo has received it, I can finally talk about it!  I used the ever popular Owlet pattern, and worked it in the 3T size.  Since she's a tall and skinny little one, I made sure to make the torso and arms longer than called for so that it hopefully fits for more than just one cold season.  She briefly tried it on during their visit, and it fit her perfectly!  I had a little over a full skein left over after the sweater was completed, so I also made a matching hat and scarf.  The hat was a bit too small for her noggin, so I suppose she has a hat for her massive stuffed animal collection now.  But the mini scarf should fit!

The whole set!  And the little tot sized sweater matches the adult Owl Sweater I made this past year.

Owls Cardigan Nearing Completion

This Owls Cardigan has been fluctuating between being worked on and simply being looked at.  I started it in September, but it has been put on hold periodically to allow time for other projects.  My sweater progress also tends to slow down as they grow, since they become less portable as I make more progress.  The lace owls on the back take a bit of concentration as well, so I try to work on it more at home when I can spread out the chart, my notes, and tools.  I've had to make a couple of minor adjustments from the actual pattern, since I changed the sleeve size.  Many other knitters that made this complained about the arms being too tight, so I worked the next size up in sleeves from the body size.  After attaching the arms to the sweater body, I had to calculate where to add the extra decreases evenly as the shoulders were being shaped.  I'm now on the home stretch!  I have one button band picked up and in progress.  After that, I'll have the other buttonband, the collar, and the pockets to knit.  Additionally, I will be following the Knitmore Girls' Grosgrain Ribbon Button Band tutorial.  This will help add a polished, clean finishing on the button band as well as help make sure that the buttons don't damage the knitted fabric.  I've got a couple ribbons and buttons in mind, but no final finishing decisions have been made yet.

Home stretch on the knitting, and starting to think about the finishing touches.

So. Many. Socks.

I'm on a bit of a sock craze right now.  I have five pairs in various stages of completion.  I got some new needles, so I obviously had to dive in and test all of them... right?  Here's a quick list of the many socks:

• Matt's green/blue stripey socks are in hibernation.  They will get finished eventually, I just needed a break from them.  I'm not a huge fan of ribbing, and they have ribbing all the way down.  It makes them nice and stretchy for big feet, but ribbing is a bit boring for me to work on.
• Rainbow gradient socks for me were completed in record time!  Start to finish in 10 days.  These socks were also my first time using wooden double pointed needles from Knit Picks.  They were a dream to work with!  And I just love the many color changes in these socks.  My only complaint is that the yarn is a bit scratchy, but I've used it before and it does soften up after a couple of trips through the washer.
• Hand-dyed Self-Striping socks for me with lovely yarn from the Nomadic Yarns Etsy shop are done as well!  I love how quickly sport weight socks are completed.  I also tried a new skill with these socks.  I used an afterthought heel, which essentially has you work the sock as a tube sock, then go back at the end, pick up the heel stitches, and work the heel the same way the toe is done.  I found a great video walkthrough made by Leslie of the KnitGirllls podcast that simplified this process.  I forsee more sport weight socks in my near future... as you will read in a minute.
• Matchy Matchy Self-Striping socks for Matt are in progress!  I showed Matt a dozen different colors for another pair of socks for him.  He insisted that the color I got was the only one he liked.  So now we are going to have matching socks!  I have the first sock cast on and it is in progress.  
• Cabled Striped Socks for me are yet another sock in progress.  The first sock of the pair is about 3/4 of the way done.  This is also yarn from the Etsy shop mentioned above.  She does lovely work!  So many of her colors are calling to me!

Can you tell that socks are one of my favorite things ever to make?

Simple Silly Project

I spotted this on Instagram, and couldn't resist trying one of my own.  It's going to be a Fancy USB Cord.  I'm knitting a basic i-cord around a USB cord to spruce it up a bit!  I'm using one of my favorite yarn remnants, Knit Picks Hawthorne, which I used for a pair of socks.

The inspiration on the right, and my bits of progress on the left.  Love the colors!

Future Yarn Ideas

I have lots of projects in mind for the new year.  My sock craze is still going strong, so I'm slowly browsing patterns to use in the near future.  For myself, I want some more cabled socks.  Cables are probably my favorite knitting technique.  I also have plenty of self-striping yarn in my stash, so some more pairs of stripey socks are definitely in the queue.  I have a pair of obnoxiously bright neon green and orange socks to make for my brother.  I spotted this yarn at a yarn store in Champaign, IL where we lived together for a couple of years, so he is definitely the perfect recipient.

Perfect yarn for the brother.  Obnoxious colors for an obnoxious guy!  :-)

I also love working on shawls, and I already have two of these in mind.  For myself, I will be using Malabrigo Silkpaca laceweight yarn in the color Sunset to make the Semele shawl.  This will be my first laceweight shawl!  I also want to make a shawl for my mom for her birthday.  Not sure that I'll make the deadline, though, so her gift may be a sneak peek at the yarn I'll be using, and then the finished object will make its way to her later.  I'll likely use the Traveling Woman pattern that I've used twice now.  It's simple and versatile.  Her favorite color is red, so I'm currently browsing for the best red yarn for her shawl.

Top is one of the Traveling Woman shawls I've made.  That shawl in red is likely what my mom will be getting.  Below is the Semele shawl for me, with the color and yarn that I will be using.

Fingerless mittens are a frequent project.  They are quick to make, an easy way to use up small amounts of yarn, and are very useful for everyone.  Right now, I've got two pairs planned for gifts as well as a third for myself.  Currently contemplating yarn choices from my stash!

I'm also starting to think about my next sweater.  As a self-imposed rule, I won't start the next sweater until my current one is 100% finished.  I think I've narrowed it down to two different patterns.  I'll either be embracing my love of cables and making the Blackberry Cabled Cardigan or I'll be meeting my need of a longer tunic style sweater with the Still Light Tunic.  If I can't make up my mind, the decision may fall onto what yarns I can find at a good (aka cheap) price, and what that yarn is best suited for.  Whichever one doesn't get cast on first will simply go to the top of my to-knit queue and will be made eventually.

My two options for my next sweater.  They are both lovely in their own ways!

It's only January, and it has already been a very eventful year for knitting.  That is definitely a good sign!  I have lots of projects that I love on the needles, many awesome knitted gifts given this past Christmas, and many lovely plans for my near knitting future.  I am so excited to see what this year has in store.  Happy knitting everyone, and have a great January.  

As usual, I'll sign off with some pics of the beasts.  Both cats have spent a considerable amount of time hibernating on the bed, and they have "helped" me with knitting in their own ways.  Linus helped me model a hat, and Linus and Apollo got in a fight over who got to sit closest to my knitting tools.

Busy Fingers for Winter

It's been a while since my last post, so I have oodles of things to fill you in on!  I've got a couple of finished items, lots of things in progress, and a couple of projects I'm currently pondering.  A little bit of my knitting is for Christmas gifts, but I'm keeping gift knitting to a minimum this year.  I made so many things last year, and felt quite burnt out afterwards.  This year, a few select people are getting handmade items, while everyone else is getting still thoughtful and useful but store bought items.  Well, technically mostly online bought.  I went on a frugal shopping spree, and knocked out 90% of my holiday shopping in one evening after making a list and checking for best internet prices.  I'm doing a bit of sewing for Christmas as well this year.  Two people in addition to myself (yay for self-gifts!) are getting sewn fleece blankets for gifts.  The flowery fleece blanket shown below was actually a joint effort with my brother for a gift.  He chose and paid for the fabric, and I sewed it since I'm the one with access to a sewing machine.

The owls are for me, and the flowers are for Grandma.  The other blanket will remain hidden until after Christmas!

The Surprise Item

Lets get started on the projects!  I'll start with one of the finished objects.  Unfortunately, I can't go too much into detail on this one.  It's a surprise for one of my holiday giftees, so I'll just leave a sneak preview of the fabulous yarn that I'm using for it.  It's super soft, and it's also machine washer/dryer friendly!  I'm just about entirely done with this item.  I finished blocking it and weaving in ends over the weekend, and just have a wee bit more finishing type things to do on it before calling it 100% done.  I'll definitely post more pictures and info once it has been received!  (Or you can be sneaky and check out my Ravelry profile and scope out the project there... hint, if you're traveling to IL for the holidays and want to keep the surprise alive, don't do this!)

This is all I can reveal about the mystery item.  It's so soft though!

 Grandma's Leafy Shawl

The next finished item is one I can talk about, since the recipient doesn't do computers.  My grandma taught me to knit years ago, and I've made her several small things over the years like bookmarks and a scarf.  This year, I wanted to make her something bigger, and something that could get a bit more use.  I officially finished my Grandma Leafy Shawl this past weekend.  I'm using the Traveling Woman pattern that I already used to make a shawl for myself.  I love that this pattern covers multiple yarn weights, from lace all the way up to worsted.  It makes it very versatile!  I already have plans to make a third one for my mom in red for her birthday.  For this one, I used Berroco Vintage Colors in the Oasis colorway.  It's an easy to wash yarn, which means it can go in the washer and be fluffed in the dryer.  It would just need some light blocking to get the shaping back to perfectly normal again.  I'm going to make part of the gift a lifetime laundering guarantee, so that my uncle doesn't have to worry about washing it, since he's the household laundry guy.  I think the colors for the shawl are perfect - it has blue and purple, which are her favorite and my favorite color, respectively.  In addition, it has shades of green, which symbolize the outdoors and gardens that are so important to both of us.  And the pattern resembles a cascade of beautiful, multicolor leaves.  I didn't even think about that when I chose the yarn as a souvenir from Davenport, Iowa a few weeks ago, but now that I've spent hours looking at it and working with it, I realize just how fitting the colors are.

Absolutely loving worsted weight shawls.  They practically fly off the needles!

Harry Potter Owls Cardigan

This DK weight sweater seems to be just inching along!  The last couple of sweaters I made used bulky yarn, so it feels like it is taking so much longer.  It is finally starting to look like an actual garment now.  The back is done, the sleeves are attached, and I'm working on the shoulder/yoke decreases now.  I just love how the lace owls panel is taking shape.  I get impatient with long stretches of purl stitches.  The purled rows are what is slowing me down right now.  I'm trying to keep chipping away at it, because after the body is done, the finishing should go nice and quick.  The Swish DK yarn is lovely to work with.  It's very soft, and it's comforting to know that it will be easy to launder.  I find hand washing small items fairly easy, but larger items can be tedious, especially with the resident feline "helpers."  Drying a sweater often means locking a cat out of a room for a day, which is a bit tricky in a one bedroom apartment.  Herding cats out of their favorite lounge area is not an easy task!

It's finally starting to look like a sweater!  The owls are showing up marvelously.  Those stinkin' sleeves seemed to take forever though.  Also, this yarn is super tricky to photograph accurately!  I'd say the top right pic is most true to actual color.

Husband Socks

I'm making a small amount of progress on the socks for Matt.  The first sock is done.  I've got so many other projects going, I haven't started the second one yet.  But I certainly haven't forgotten about them.  Matt won't let me forget about them anyways.  He's pretty excited about having some handmade socks!

Matt sock #1 is complete.  I played a bit of yarn chicken on them... that little string in the left corner is all I had left when I got to the toe!  Luckily, there's another ball for the second sock.  Otherwise I'd be in trouble...

Festive Socks

I just started a new pair of socks for myself.  They look marvelous!  I got a ball of fancy hand-dyed self-striping yarn on Etsy from the Nomadic Yarns shop.  It's sport weight sock yarn, so I can use US3 needles and they are just flying by!  The first sock's cuff is already halfway done, and I just started them last night.  Matt really likes the colors too, so for a last Christmas gift, I got a second ball of the same color to make him a pair of matching socks.  If I'm lucky, I'll even be able to finish both pairs before Christmas!  The yarn is soo soft, and the colors are very bright.  And it's giving me a chance to use my awesome birthday gift from my little brother.  He got me a sloth yarn bowl!  It looks like a sleepy sloth giving the ball of yarn a big hug!  It's extremely cute.  And to add to the cuteness even more... I've got a festive project bag to go with the festive sock color scheme!  I was lucky enough to catch a Fat Squirrel Fibers shop update a few weeks ago, and got a small project bag, which is perfectly sized for holding all things knitted sock related.  Plus the shop helps support one of my favorite video podcasts, The Fat Squirrel Speaks.

These colors are simply amazing!  It was so hard choosing, the Etsy shop has so many great color combos available.

Gift Dish Towels

I signed up for a gift exchange at work, and it has a $5 maximum gift price.  For my giftee, I'm making two dish towels.  One is done, and the other in progress.  I've got until Tuesday night to get them done, so I'll have to see if I can knock out the other one this weekend.  I've gifted them to a few other people at work and they have rave reviews, so hopefully my grab bag giftee loves them just as much!

Simple gifts, and they remain useful for years!

New Barley Hat

The Barley Hat Pattern is an extremely simple, fun little knit, which comes in sizes for the entire family.  I made one last year, and it has gotten lots of wear.  I'm making myself another one, this time with some fancy yarn I found at Goodwill over the summer.  It's a skein of Spud and Chloe Sweater Yarn in a turquoise color.  It's a 55/45% wool/cotton blend, making it both soft and durable.  So far I've only gotten the ribbing of the hat brim done.  I can't wait to get further, it's so soft!  And it will match some of my other winter accessories.  

I think that's about it for projects.  There's a couple others, but they haven't seen a lot of action so I'll leave them out until there's something more exciting to say about them.  As for projects I'm currently pondering, I'm trying to find perfect patterns and colors for a couple pairs of fingerless mitts.  One of the gloves from my cousin's pair went missing, so I want to make him a second pair for Christmas.  And if I'm making him a pair, it's only fair to make a new pair for his wife... so I've got two patterns pulled, and I'm contemplating perfect yarn choices for them.  I've got lots of darker colors for my cousin, and then I'm eyeing some of the more fun and bright colors for his wife.  They will be fun little instant gratification projects to break up the slow progress of the larger things I'm working on.

Linus and Apollo, my constant knitting companions.  And in the lower right, Clyde in catloaf form.  If I'm at my parents' house, he's usually close behind, moaning and yelling to announce his presence.

Wow, I was far more busy with knitting than I imagined!  So many neat things to work on!